On Sunday, the four of us went to a family diner called Kathy’s at the end of the street, and had brunch, before Jeremy and I drove up to Washington DC. Jeremy had already visited Washington DC once for a conference, but we hadn’t been able to afford to go together before. By the time we arrived it was getting dark, and both of us were pretty tired. We checked into our hotel, went for dinner and then went to bed early.
On Monday, we spent the morning walking around the Freer Gallery of Art. When I was 18, I had recently left school, was in a job I hated, and as trying to decide what I wanted to do. I felt like I wanted a few days just by myself to think things through, so I booked a few days at a bed and breakfast in Inverness in Scotland, which is the area my family always went to for summer holidays. When I was in a book shop there, I found a copy of a book on Art Nouveau, called Art Nouveau written by Lara-Vinca Masini. On page 30 there were a couple of photos of James McNeill Whistler’s Peacock Room, which is now on display at the Freer Gallery. I had wanted to see the Peacock room ever since. I was finally going to get a chance to visit it. Jeremy took these photos, as I had lost the charger for my camera, he had ordered a new one, but it hadn’t arrived before we had to leave for our trip.
In the afternoon we walked around the National Museum of the American Indian, which I think is a must see for any beadweaver visiting Washington DC. On the outside it is a striking modern building reminiscent of both the hills and rock faces of New Mexico, and of Adobe homes. It is very organic looking and a striking contrast to the Classical Greek, and Gothic style buildings nearby.
Inside where were small seating areas for contemplation, something I was grateful for as I passed through the exhibits, and listened to the stories. Like the Guggenheim in New York, you enter into a large atrium, with a staircase that follows the inner walls and leads off to the main gallery. The atrium is filled with modern sculptures, and canoes and has interactive exhibits for kids.
The next floor is where they have temporary exhibits. At the time we visited the gallery had an exhibition featuring musicians including Link Wray (Shawnee), and Jesse Ed Davis (Kiowa, Seminole and Muscogee Creek), who recorded with both George Harrison and John Lennon. As part of the exhibition there was a beautiful velvet patchwork coat worn by Jimi Hendrix who had Cherokee ancestors.
Then there were the permanent exhibitions, including one called Our lives: Contemporary Life and Identities, where several communities talk about their lives, history, preservation of languages, stories and their artwork . I wished we had been able to spend more time there, as the stories were incredible – tinged with sadness, and regret, yet looking out towards the future, and passing on traditional art techniques to new generations.
